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Bestiary: Main
The world of Ardalore is filled with cliché creatures of many shapes and sizes. This page contains the lists of species that divide further into races, and also some evolutionary trees once I get to it. Higher Species The higher species of Ardalore include most of the races capable of some measure of intellect; whether through civilization or magical capabilities. Humans, Morg'naar, Elves and the likes fall into this category, but also celestial and astral creatures. Sapiens Main page: Bestiary: Sapiens As Human scholastics go, Sapiens includes the cream of evolutionary intellect for mortals - those races thought to be the closest relatives of Humans. A general term could be 'pink-skins', as the archetypes of all these races have skin colours matching those of real-world European ethnicities. Sapiens Bestis Main page: Bestiary: Sapiens Bestis Beastly, yet still humanlike races fall into this category. These are the archetypically 'brutish' civilized raced of Ardalore, such as Trolls, Ogres, Morg'naar and Snakefolk. While not officially less intelligent than Sapiens races, the Sapiens Bestis is viewed as the place to put races with a lifestyle akin to Humans' but whoch don't look like them, Demi-Astrae Main page: Bestiary: Demi-Astrae Called so due to being halfway between magical and corporeal. Demi-Astrae are the races that have purely magical origins, yet are made from flesh and bone (or other 'real' materials). All Demi-Astrae share a strong affinity for magic, and most of them have a level of intelligence higher than animal. Astrae Main page: Bestiary: Astrae Dead spirits and other ethereal creatures fall into this category. Astrae have no physical form but instead make their appearance visible through Ectoplasma, a sort of materialized magic that is only kept physically present by the willpower of something or someone. Reanimated spirits and trickster apparitions make up the majority of the Astrae. Celestis Main page: Bestiary: Celestis Every mortal dreams of seeing a member of the Celestis species (pronounced 'Kelestis'). This category comprises the beings that originate somewhere out of the mortal realm, and includes both demonic and angelic creatures as well as the Creators themselves. Suffice to say, Celestis are extremely powerful and the only species to inarguably stand greater than the Sapiens. Lower Species Basically anything that isn't reasonably capable of creating civilization or communicating inter-racially. The lower species include beasts, monsters and the likes. Belua Main page: Bestiary: Belua Falling into this species are monsters of all kinds, be they Dragons, Giants, huge turnips or the likes. Within the lower species, the Belua are the most dangerous and the most intelligent, with several members capable of intelligence in some way - though none have been able to form an organized society like the Sapiens. Bestis Bipedal Main page: Bestiary: Bestis Bipedal Going on two legs per default, members of the Bestis Bipedal share a bipedal stature, and are reasonably intelligent for mere animals. Bear-apes, Mongrills and Gniblings are Bestis Bipedal, but so are 'real-world' primates and even kangaroos (though the latter do not exist in Ardalore). Bestis Avia Main page: Bestiary: Bestis Avia Having wings and feathers defines a Bestis Avia. Gryphons and the like fall into this category, as well as any bird smaller than a Roc (which is a Belua). Bestis Bestis Main page: Bestiary: Bestis Bestis It should be fairly obvious that any beast which does not fly, swim or walk on two legs is a Bestis Bestis. The distinction between things such as reptiles, arthropods and mammals is not apparent until the Bestis Bestis is further subdivided into sub-species and sub-sub-species - such as Bestis Bestis Arthropodae and Bestis Bestis Arthropodae Arachnidae. A classical example of how someone once made a system based on behaviour and appearance, and never corrected the system. Bestis Aqua Main page: Bestiary: Bestis Aqua Just being a marine animal does not make a Bestis Aqua. The animal has to have gills, as well as being smaller than gargantuan (as that would make it a Belua). Fish, jellyfish, squids and octopodes all fall under this species.